“It is supposed that one cherishes the place that shows one's starting point. They blew it up now and destroyed it and by that they announce their defeat,” he said.
Al-Abadi was referring to the landmark Grand al-Nuri Mosque of Mosul and its leaning minaret which were blown up by ISIL fighters on Wednesday. It was from there that ISIL leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi gave his most prominent address and made his first appearance as caliph in 2014.
Fighting in western Mosul continues, and the situation inside the ISIL-captured territory has been described by the United Nations as desperate, with thousands of civilians struggling to survive.
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